A letter from the darker side of my family...

"Derek,

Congratulations on your graduation from the U of A. I see that you have been accepted at NYU law school.

It is OK but not a great law school unless you want to work at a law firm in NYC. You can forget the #4 ranking in Newsweek magazine which has been discredited by accepting financial inducement and other incentives from various law schools. NYU law school generally ranks anywhere from #11 to #17. You need to be thinking about where you will be a summer associate and where you think you will be working. Atlanta, DC, Charlotte, Birmingham, etc.

You should shoot for a true top 10 law school. I know two attorneys that changed law schools. On transfered from U of Cal, Hastings to University of Chicago and the other transfered from Vermont law school to Duke law school. Duke is generally ranked around #7 to #8 and U of Chicago is usually ranked #4 to #6.

I would get out of NYC as fast as I could. It is still at the top of the terrorist hit list. Intelligence agencies suggest the next attack will be far worse than 9/11. I am sending you some info on the above law schools that you might look at.

Uncle Butch."

I hope you all get a laff.